Maybe I'm Amazed

"Maybe I'm Amazed" is a song written by Paul McCartney that was first released on his 1970 album McCartney. McCartney dedicated the song to his wife, Linda, who had helped him get through the break-up of the Beatles.

Although the original recording has never been released as a single, a live performance by McCartney's later band Wings, from the live album Wings over America, was. This version became a top-ten hit in the United States and reached number 28 in the United Kingdom.

History

McCartney wrote the song in 1969, just before the Beatles' break-up. He credited his wife Linda with helping him get through the difficult time. Although most of his debut solo album was recorded at his home in London, McCartney recorded "Maybe I'm Amazed" entirely in EMI's Number Two studio in Abbey Road, on the same day as he recorded "Every Night". He played all the instruments: guitars, bass, piano, organ and drums. Although McCartney declined to release the song as a single in 1970, it nonetheless received a great deal of radio airplay worldwide, making it one of his most recognisable solo successes. A promotional film was made, comprising still photographs of McCartney, his wife Linda and stepdaughter Heather, which first aired in the UK on 19 April 1970 on ITV in its own slot, and as a part of an episode CBS Television's The Ed Sullivan Show.

The original studio version of the song finished with a fade instead of a full ending, but McCartney later composed an ending that can be heard on the live versions of the song. McCartney first performed this live with Wings, in Châteauvallon, France, on 9 July 1972. During his guest appearance in The Simpsons episode "Lisa the Vegetarian", McCartney says to Lisa and Apu "If you play 'Maybe I'm Amazed' backwards, you'll find a recipe for a ripping lentil soup", which can be heard in the background when the song is played during the closing credits to the episode.

Live version

A live recording from the 1976 album Wings over America was released as a single by McCartney's band Wings on 4 February 1977 and reached number 10 in the US on the Billboard pop charts, and number 28 in the UK. Versions of the song can be heard on several other live McCartney albums including Back in the U.S. and Back in the World. "Maybe I'm Amazed" has become a centrepiece of McCartney's concerts, along with "Band on the Run" and "Live and Let Die", live versions of the song are available on the 2011 reissue of McCartney.

Aftermath

Regarded as one of McCartney's finest love songs, it achieved the number 347 position in the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list compiled by Rolling Stone magazine in November 2004, and is the only solo McCartney song to make the list. In a late 2009 Q&A with journalists held in London to promote his live album Good Evening New York City, McCartney said "Maybe I'm Amazed" was "the song he would like to be remembered for in the future".

Chart performance

Weekly singles charts

Chart (1977)	Peak position
Canada RPM Top Singles	9
Japanese Singles Chart	61
UK Singles Chart	28
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	10
U.S. Cash Box Top 100	10

Year-end charts

Chart (1977)	Position
Canada	96
U.S. Cash Box	94

Personnel

"McCartney" studio version

• Paul McCartney – lead vocals, guitar, bass, piano, organ, drums
• Linda McCartney – backing vocals

"Wings Over America" live version

• Paul McCartney – lead vocals, piano
• Linda McCartney – backing vocals
• Denny Laine – backing vocals, bass guitar
• Jimmy McCulloch – lead guitar
• Joe English – drums

Covers

• London based band Fickle Pickle released Maybe I'm Amazed as a single in August 1970 and had a Top 40 hit with it in the Netherlands the following year.
• The Ronnie Lane/Rod Stewart-led Faces featured this song on their 1971 album Long Player, and McCartney based his live performances of the song more on their version.
• Carleen Anderson released a version as a single in 1998 and was released on her album Blessed Burden.
• Welsh singer Jem did a cover of this song which was included in Music from the OC: Mix 2 soundtrack in 2004.
• Marc Cohn covered this song on his 2010 album Listening Booth: 1970.
• Black Oak Arkansas covered this song at a 1976 concert on the album King Biscuit Flower Hour 1976.
• Sandie Shaw's version was released in February 1971 on Pye Records.
• In 2000, contemporary Christian artist Bryan Duncan covered the song on his album Joyride.
• Joe Cocker covers the song on the 2004 album Heart & Soul.
• In 2006, Neal Morse covered the song on his album Cover to Cover.
• Dave Grohl (of Foo Fighters and Nirvana, the latter of which McCartney is a fan) and Norah Jones together performed a version of the song during the 2010 Kennedy Center Honors ceremonies as a tribute to 2010 honoree Paul McCartney who was seated in the President's Box alongside First Lady Michelle Obama and fellow 2010 honoree Oprah Winfrey.
• On the ninth season of American Idol, contestant Crystal Bowersox sang this song. On the tenth season, James Durbin sang the song as a part of the Top 13 week's theme "Your Personal Idol". He stated that McCartney was his idol. On the thirteenth season, the song was sang again by Caleb Johnson on Top 4 week and on the final.
• On 27 May 2011, the official Paul McCartney YouTube channel held a "Maybe I'm Amazed Cover Competition" where users would submit video responses of themselves covering the song, the winner being the user whose video gained the most 'likes'. On 28 June 2011, YouTube user "Troubleclef" was named winner of the contest.
• Scottish-American hard rock vocalist Terry McDermott sang the tune during the 2012 season of the NBC musical program The Voice.
• The song is also covered in the 2012 movie Joyful Noise.
• Billy Joel covers the song on the 2014 covers album The Art of McCartney.

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics